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It's that time of year again! Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Or are you a freakishly early shopper who's almost done, like me? No matter how organised I think I am, though, there's always another gift or two to be bought that sneaks under my radar. This year it's been my step-mum who has been the most difficult to buy for but I think I've finally found something just right - fingers crossed! If you're stuck for gift ideas for your mum, step-mum, grandmother, I've got a bunch of suggestions to help you narrow things down. Let's get to it!

First up is the Trilogy Repair & Protect Gift Set (RRP $49.95NZD), which contains three of Trilogy's best selling products: a full-size Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+ and travel versions of the Cream Cleanser and Rosapene Night Cream. I love so many of Trilogy's products - you can check out my Trilogy tag for some reviews. Whether your mum is new to Trilogy or is already familiar with the range, she's sure to enjoy this. It covers the core steps in a basic skincare routine and is suitable for many skin types - great if you're not sure exactly what type your mum has! I also like that this set isn't strewn with anti-aging jargon and claims as I know from personal experience that sometimes handing your mum a bottle of anti-aging skincare gets you the stinkeye and a cry of "what are you trying to say?!", LOL. Trilogy have a couple of other gift sets out at the moment too, I also like the look of the Bare-Faced Beauty kit which contains the Rosehip Oil, a Makeup Be Gone Cleansing Balm and my personal favourite, the Hydrating Mist Toner. It's a lovely little luxury, especially in the summer months, and well worth checking out.

If your mum is looking to try something new with her haircare routine, consider checking out one of L'Oreal Professionnel's hair care gift sets. There are quite a few available to cover different hair types and needs, including Vitamino Color A.Ox, Absolut Repair Lipidium, Shine Blonde, Volumetry and the Mythic Oil Gift Set, which I have and each contains a shampoo and conditioner along with a styling product, all for RRP $59NZD. Like skin care, hair care is quite a personal pick and it pays to know what kind of hair type your mum has in most cases, but the Mythic Oil set is nice because it's suited to all hair types. I started using hair oils around three or four years ago and they honestly have made such a difference to the texture and condition of my hair. I'll never go back to a hair care routine without them! I haven't pictured the box the set comes in here (as I was a bit short on space!) but it's beautiful and highly suited for gifting, all gold gilt florals and black.

LUSH's holiday collections always bring some strong contenders for gifting options and it was downright difficult to pick only a few to include here, but I think these two would both be great treats for mums! Sleepy Body Lotion ($18.50NZD for 95g/$38NZD for 240g) is a soothing lavender scented concoction in a matching hue that's ideal for moisturising with after a long soak before bed. If your mum needs a gentle nudge to relax and pamper herself, Sleepy is just what the doctor ordered. Baked Alaska Soap ($9.90NZD for 100g) on the other hand, is the perfect wake-up call for her morning shower: it's zesty and bright, tempered with a little ylang-ylang. It's actually been on my shopping list for a few people this year - after all, who could resist such a cheerful, colourful soap?

Aveeno have another fab option for lavender lovers with their Stress Relief range which contains a Moisturising Lotion and Body Wash (RRP $16.99NZD each). They're lovely for sensitive skin and packed with soothing ingredients and scents. You can grab them at the supermarket too, which is excellent for those 'oh god, I've forgotten to grab them a Christmas present!' moments!

For cheap and cheerful stocking stuffers, these Freeman Mask Sachets are pretty brilliant with an RRP of $3.85NZD each, plus if your mum loves them, she can grab a full-size tube down the track! There are heaps of different options to cater to different skin types but the Charcoal & Black Sugar Polishing Mask and Chocolate and Strawberry Facial Clay Mask sound particularly decadent. Plus, there's seriously nothing better than chocolate dipped strawberries at Christmas time, in mask form or at the dinner table - you northern hemisphere folks are missing out.

These L'Oreal Magic Retouch Instant Root Concealer Sprays (RRP $19.99NZD each) are a handy gift for the mum who has everything - except time to make it to lengthy hair appointments! They're an awesome quick fix to cover up regrowth, including pesky greys, when you can't make it to the hairdresser for whatever reason. I can't stand regrowth (although I've had to train myself to be better about that to avoid overprocessing my hair) so I'll be reaching for the Light Brown option while I'm on holiday this summer. Worth noting is that they do come out a little darker than they look on the bottle so you may wish to consider grabbing a shade lighter than your hair colour. There are five shades: black, dark brown, brown, light brown and blonde.

If you're wanting to go a little luxe for your mum this Christmas, look no further than YSL's cult classicTouche Eclat, which is all decked out for the holidays in this Sparkle Clash edition (RRP $65NZD). Did you know that one of these babies is sold somewhere in the world every ten seconds? This multi-tasking marvel is a concealer and highlighting pen in one, adding radiance to make you look way more awake than you really feel and it suits most skin types too. Brilliant stuff.

Last but not least are Jamberry's Christmas collection of nail wraps ($24NZD per sheet of 18 wraps) which are an awesome choice for mums who love a fancy manicure but may not have the time or inclination for nail art or a trip to the nail salon. Pictured are Wintergreen, Silver Frost, Snowbound and Light It Up from the holiday range but there are colours, patterns and finishes for literally every taste in the permanent lineup. I'll be sharing some Christmas manis on my Instagram (@lanilovesblog) soon, so keep an eye out for that! If you're not sure what Jamberry wraps are, I walk you through the whole shebang in this review.

Time to bust into some Christmas sets! As if Christmas wasn't awesome enough already, it's also a beauty lover's dream, with value-packed gift sets everywhere you turn. It's a great time of year for introducing gift recipients to some of your favourite products, stocking up on them yourself or trying something new.

Case in point is this gorgeous Burt's Bees Kissable Colour set, which contains two Lip Shimmers - sheer, shimmery, deeply hydrating tinted lip balms. Individually, they're $16NZD each but this set has an RRP of $20NZD - a great saving if you've been wanting to give them a whirl!

The Lip Shimmers come in slimline tubes which twist up but don't retract - so don't make the mistake of winding up more than you're going to use! The caps and trim match the colour inside which is a nice wee touch that makes it that much easier to select the right colour if you have more than one.

Formula overview:

These tinted lip balms come in eleven shades and offer sheer colour payoff with varying degrees of shimmer. They're deeply hydrating and the wear time was surprisingly impressive for a tinted balm - about four hours on me.

Watermelon

Watermelonis a soft mauve pink with lots of fine pink shimmer and sheer, even colour payoff. The touch of pink brightens my natural lip colour a little and the overall effect is natural with a bit of oomph. I really, really like it and can see myself using this a lot over the summer, especially with pared-back makeup.

Rhubarb

Rhubarbis a sheer red with very subtle shimmer. It applied unevenly (though the unevenness was slightly less obvious from a normal viewing distance) so I wasn't so keen on this one - I always think of tinted lip balms as a slick on and go, no mirror required kind of deal, which isn't the case for Rhubarb. It could be very pretty layered, though.

Well, I had grand plans to rotate upcoming MAC Monday posts between lip products and face products but it turns out I mostly have lip stuff ready to go. So here's another lipstick, LOL.

Feel My Pulse was part of the 2013 Temperature Rising collection, which I skipped over at the time. It's still not a standout collection for me and I've only tracked down two more pieces from it (Rhythm lipglass and Ripe For Love blush, which I reviewed here) but what I have from it, I really like. The collection came in gorgeous frosted bronze packaging with purple lining the boxes and was filled with bronze, peach and violet tones. Feel My Pulse was one of four lipsticks in the collection.

Feel My Pulse is described as a 'vivid magenta violet' and has a Cremesheen finish. I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with MAC's purple lipsticks recently as so many of the darker shades I've tried of theirs are patchy and uneven. They do these magenta-purples incredibly well though and Feel My Pulse gave me no trouble at all. The colour payoff is semi-opaque, even and it lasts for just under six hours on me without being drying. MAC lipsticks have a vanilla scent.

Similar shades are Maybelline Violet Intrigue (limited edition, but I've seen it in Postie Plus stores recently) and another limited edition MAC release, Style Curve (although Style Curve has shimmer). Australis Color Inject in Mash Up (reviewed here) is also very close.

Woohoo! After temporarily closing for a while, Darling Girl Cosmetics has reopened for Black Friday weekend and will be open through Cyber Monday, too. I thought I'd take the opportunity to unearth one of my favourite Darling Girl Balm Glosses from my drafts folder for the occasion!

The Balm Glosses come in 3ml click pens with brush applicators which I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with. The squared off brush tip makes it very easy to outline and fill in your lips (the lip swatch below was applied neat from the pen), but the click dispenser, as with most of its kind, takes forever to get started and to push more product up.

Formula overview:

Balm Glosses are a semi-opaque lipgloss with a thin, smooth, non-sticky and lightweight formula. As you might expect from the name, it does indeed have a balmy feel and plenty of hydration to boot. The scent is lovely - a little fruity and lightly sweet, my nose picks up hints of maple syrup and banana - without being cloying or too artificial.

Tickled Pink is described as a 'sheer grapefruit pink with holographic mica based glitter that changes from gold, green to blue, although the most prominent shades are gold and green'. It pulls coral on me and is definitely my most used Balm Gloss, I just love it! It layers well with the Pucker Paints (I like pairing it with Tea Time) and is comfortable and hydrating to wear. The sparkle feels ever so slightly gritty on the lips although not enough that I found it off-putting - as always, your mileage may vary. Tickled Pink lasted five and a half hours on me.

I have another set of Notoriously Morbid eyeshadows to show you today! All of these are permanent, too. As usual, there's a bit of a theme going on here with the warm toned shades although I do have more reviews up my sleeve, so keep an eye out for more cool toned shades in future!

Notoriously Morbid have plenty of eyeshadow sizing options to suit everyone's preferences and budget. The sample size ($1.25USD) contains approx. 1/4 tsp of product in baggie, the mini-size ($2.75USD) has approx. 1/3 tsp of product in a 3g jar, the full size ($5.50USD) has approx. 1/2 to 3/4 tsp of product in a 5g jar and finally, the deluxe size ($7.50USD) has approx. 1 to 1 1/4 tsp of product in a 10g jar. Personally, I always opt for the mini size, except where full size is the only option, as I find jars easier to use than baggies and it's rare for me to finish an eyeshadow!

Formula overview:
I really enjoy Notoriously Morbid's eyeshadow formula. They're easy to work with, blend well, and are often completely unique to what's being put out by mainstream brands. Some shades, especially the more glittery ones perform best over a sticky base but can certainly be used on their own.

Swatch notes:
All eyeshadow swatches in this post are done two ways: applied on bare skin on the left hand side and over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, a sticky eyeshadow base which maximises colour intensity and sparkle, on the right. This is so you can see how they perform both ways. I take all of my photos with daylight bulbs for colour accuracy.

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Gender

Gender is described as a 'peach-toned pink with a subtle overlay of rose and lavender shimmers'. I'm kind of scared of pinky eyeshadows but I wound up really liking Gender! The colour payoff is great although the semi-matte base wasn't so fond of being patted over a sticky base - it works, but it's much happier when you just use it with a regular primer. Gender would be beautiful as a blush on fair skin tones, too. It comes from the Alpha & Omega collection.

I've used Gender on the inner half of the lid, Raisin Girl on the outer half of the lid, Logic Boy on the crease, Billiwhack on the inner corner and Naughty Nanny over smudged out liner on the lower lashline. The lashes are these ones in the #WSP style.

Visions

Visions is described as a 'bright peach with electric yellow to green shift'. The green to yellow shift is gorgeous and very prominent over a sticky base although sadly I didn't let it live out its full potential in the eyeshadow look below - I'll have to do another look with Visions as the focus soon! It'll be so pretty for summer.Visions comes from The Winchester Gospels collection, which is inspired by one of my favourite shows, Supernatural!

I used Visions on the inner third of the lid here with Power of Orange Knickers on the centre of the lid and lower lashline, Protective Aggressor on the outer third of the lid, Baroness on the outer V, 5 by 5 on the crease, He's Going Through Changes as a transition and Harlequin highlighter on the inner corner. The lashes are Ardell Demi Wispies.

Tessie

Tessie is described as a 'soft peach with golden sheen and golden sparkles'. I bought this partly because it's my mother in law's nickname and partly because of my well-documented orange makeup obsession, LOL. Either way, it's a winner. A little sheer without a sticky base but workable although I recommend the sticky base for maximum sparkle. Tessie comes from the ongoing State of Fear collection.

Spring-heeled Jack

Spring-heeled Jack is described as a 'red orange matte base with a shift that travels from purple to blue to golden bronze'. If you're a sucker for duochromes like I am, you will definitely want to pick Spring-heeled Jack up! The purple shift doesn't come through in the eye makeup pictures (although you can see hints of it in the swatch) but I saw little glimpses of it peeking through in person. As with most extreme-angle duochrome shifts, they're something that you tend to notice more in real life as you shift your head and move into different lighting situations rather than the static setup you see below! The colour payoff on this eyeshadow is great and I found it very blendable and easy to work with. I highly recommend it! Spring-heeled Jack is also part of the State of Fear collection.

For this look I used Spring-heeled Jack on the outer two third of the lid and lower lashline, Tessie on the inner third of the lid, 5 by 5 on the crease, He's Going Through Changes to blend out and My Beloved highlighter on the inner corner. I'm also wearing Burnt Flowers Mystic Matte, Skin blush and My Beloved highlighter in the picture below. The lashes are these ones from Ebay.